Program FAQs

Uptake Alliance is an intersectional community of startups, corporations, investors, and policymakers creating the market conditions for frontier climate ventures to thrive. Our mission is to ensure the adoption of market-ready climate technologies. With a focus on creating both a global community and New York impact, our accelerator provides holistic support to climate startups so they are prepared to solve real-world problems, compete in the market and grow into their potential.

Come learn about Uptake Alliance and how we support climatetech startups to achieve commercial traction!

Uptake is creating the market conditions for frontier climate ventures to thrive. Our global venture development program connects organizations with technical challenges to startups with novel solutions — creating a regenerative impact on business performance, technology scaling, and our shared climate future.

Uptake supports startups with frontier climate ideas and provides them with tailored programming and a wealth of resources to partner them with corporations seeking solutions to technical challenges. We bring together a vast network of mentors, climate leaders, and subject matter experts for core curriculum training, 1:1 coaching, and network building.

Every startup begins by curating an individual journey based on a 6-month roadmap to help identify and achieve their growth milestones. Once startups complete the roadmapped programming, they will retain access to Uptake’s resources and are encouraged to stay active in the community, ensuring our alliance grows and builds upon the success of every member.

Uptake has $1.5M in grant funding available for first of a kind project initiatives reserved for our portfolio members. Further details will be shared on our grant process in the coming months.

No, Uptake does not take equity in program participants.

Our program is digital first. While we encourage attendance at in-person programming in New York every 3-4 months following kickoff, this is not a requirement for anyone. Uptake is a global ecosystem; startups can be located anywhere in the world. However, special consideration will be given towards companies based in New York State or working towards New York State’s climate goals.

The Uptake Alliance program is divided into three phases: the Core Curriculum phase, Runway phase, and Emeritus phase.

Uptake’s Core Curriculum phase takes place over the course of three months and is focused on key venture development activity. In addition to the Core Curriculum, this phase includes roadmapping, one-on-one mentorship, access to market intel, capital strategy, and the Digital Knowledge Hub, eligibility for sprints and grants, and participation in events and the Uptake community. Member companies will work with the Uptake team to build their Roadmap for a planned 6-month program term.

The Runway phase focuses on the implementation and application of lessons learned in the Core phase with the goal of pursuing corporate engagement and achieving roadmapped goals. Uptake’s Runway phase typically will take place over the course of three months, but may be extended for certain companies that require more time to reach their goals.

Once member companies have reached their stated goal, they will deliver a final report to Uptake. Upon delivery of this report, they will be eligible to graduate from the program. After graduation, companies are welcome and encouraged to stay engaged in the community for further funding opportunities and events. They will maintain lifetime Digital Knowledge Hub access, and invitations to events and participation in the Uptake community.

Uptake’s program typically takes place over a 6 month term. Individual roadmaps and goals are crafted on day one and pursued in parallel with a 3 month Core phase and subsequent 3 month Runway phase. Weekly time commitments are approximately 5 hours/week during the Core phase and 3 hours/week during the Runway phase. Companies needing more time to achieve their roadmap goals may extend their stay in the program for up to 6 months with approval from the program administrators. After a company completes the program, they retain access to Uptake’s resources and are encouraged to stay active in the community.

While the majority of the Uptake program is virtual, participants will be encouraged to attend the 2-3 day intensive kick-off event at the beginning of each program. Throughout the program, there will be opportunities to participate in in-person programming paid for by Uptake. However, these will be optional and have virtual alternatives.

Absolutely! As long as you’re able to commit the time and energy to our program, we encourage our ventures to do what is best for their own growth and development. However, in certain circumstances, we may suggest ventures complete their current program before beginning their work with Uptake. We accept a new Collective of companies every 6 months and so there are plenty of opportunities to get involved.

There are also some fantastic venture support organizations, some of which are right here in New York State. To see a full list of our partner programs, please check out our NY Ecosystem page

While we aim to provide support to all ventures, our program is best suited to support ventures within one year of a commercially-viable product or are already achieving market traction.

We welcome startups with a clear and scalable impact on our collective climate challenges to apply to our program. However, the typical participant will fulfill the following criteria:

While we do not have specific sector requirements, we focus on market adoption of climate technologies in New York’s largest emitting sectors - grid, transportation, buildings, and industry

We ask that applicants have at least 2 full time employees

Companies must display revenue within the last year or a clear pathway to revenue within the next year

Companies are selected for program participation by Uptake’s Selection Committee consisting of around 20 people including NYSERDA and ADL leadership, subject matter experts, investors, corporate leaders and representatives of New York State. We evaluate based on:

Business model: overall viability, potential, and effectiveness

Market: expected market viability and demonstrated market need for the product

Technology: technical aspects of the solution, including potential for growth and market competitiveness

Impact: potential positive impact on the climate, ratepayers, and communities

Team: experience, potential, capabilities, and dynamics of the team

Applications for our second collective are now closed. The next admissions period will open in the fall of 2024.